I don’t have any time today to dedicate to spinning the usual little Foal Friday tale, so instead I figured I’d let the pictures tell their own story this week. One balanced with equal parts chaos and cuteness, because that’s really what foals are, after all, and this group certainly has plenty of both.
So… I haven’t been to an actual event in almost 2 years. Coconino July 2019, to be exact. We’ve done some things here and there, but quick one day affairs (generally jumper classes) – things that are simple and require very little preparation or brain power. And while the show this weekend is a schooling show, and we’re running Novice for the first time since… 2016(?)… it’s still a multi-day affair that is a couple hours away and therefore requires a lot more effort than anything else we’ve done in the past couple years.
While all the rain means that I’m definitely not very prepared on the riding side of things (who needs to jump a full course within a couple months of a show anyway….) it did at least give me plenty of time to get the rest sorted out. I tried on all my show clothes (some fit, some don’t), waffled over what to wear, and settled on just bringing “options” because decisions are hard. I’ve already been to the grocery store to get food and drinks for the weekend. I managed to remember to find my show XC boots and, uh… wash them. Nothing like using them, tossing them in your trunk, and forgetting about them for 2 years. They got a lot whiter than I expected. I also get to finally debut Henry’s sparkly Majyk Equipe leather boots, so that’s fun. I bodyclipped Henry about a week and a half ago (he does SO much better in the heat when he’s bodyclipped) and fixed up his tail last night. I didn’t re-sculpt the top but I brushed it out and dyed it and banged it, so he doesn’t look feral anymore. He’s officially ready to be seen in public again.
I still have to like… learn my dressage test (bleh) and figure out how to work the newer Cambox v4 that I got over the winter (why does technology get harder as I get older, someone help), but I think I’ve remembered everything. Hopefully. This venue has a weird outlet situation for fans so I’ve got approximately 9000 adapters and extension cords plus two fan options. Henry has to have a fan. I’m packing my trailer today so I guess we’ll see how prepared I feel once that’s done. I think I’ve got my bases covered though. Oh, and I stocked up on Oatmeal Creme Pies, so… Henry should be golden at least.
I can’t do as much about the lack of preparation for the riding aspect. We haven’t XC schooled since last fall, we’ve had one lesson in the past year, haven’t been able to jump hardly at all lately… it’s not ideal by any means but it is what is is. We’ve dropped down two levels from what we were competing at before, Henry feels GREAT in the work we’ve been able to do in between all the rain, and most importantly, this is just for fun. I have zero expectations whatsoever, and if at any point I need to scratch then I will. It’s whatever. Honestly it feels really casual and freeing and I’m excited about having no expectations. I can’t even remember the last time I went to an event and had an actual zero pressure type of situation. It’s exactly what I want right now, after so long away. Plus it’ll be good to ease myself back into things with Henry throughout the rest of this year, so that I’m back in the swing of it by the time Presto comes home and we can hit the ground running without me being quite so dang show-rusty. For now, though, I’m just going to enjoy a fun weekend away with my veteran Best Boy. And, BONUS, the nugget kiddo (aka the baby Best Boy) will be there too!
It was a little touch and go right up until a couple days ago as to whether or not he’d be able to go. Early last week he managed to hurt himself IN HIS STALL – cutting his leg on the inside of his thigh and causing a decent amount of swelling. When Megan found him he was fairly convinced his leg was broken, which was a little worrying because he’s usually pretty stoic. But ya know, an emergency vet call and some diagnostics later ($$$), all was fine. They cleaned the wound, gave him some antibiotics and NSAID’s, and said to get him moving around to help the swelling. Once he was active again he realized it wasn’t as broken as he was convinced it was, and within a few days it was better.
Of course, between that incident and his virus incident a few weeks ago, he’s not worked much since the last show. Megan wanted to jump him some before she decided whether or not to enter him, but he’s totally fine and goes around like he hadn’t missed a day, so… to the horse show it is.
I’m honestly looking forward to this weekend in a way that I haven’t genuinely looked forward to a horse show in a long time. Hopefully it’s a good one!
Surely I wasn’t the only nerdy kid who looked forward to the summer reading programs at the local library just about as much as the whole vacation from school part? I still read A LOT, every single day, although mostly non-horse fiction. Still though, I do quite enjoy the occasional horse book, usually non-fiction, and I’m always on the lookout for good ones. The one I got last week is definitely what I would classify as a super cool book.
It’s called Cross Country Completion: considerations about jump decorating, written by ‘r’ eventing course designer and cross country course decorator Janine Preece McClain. I’m always interested in anything about course design, or how horses read fences, or why jumps are set or decorated the way they are. It’s super fascinating to me. McClain has decorated courses for tons of different venues and big events, including 2018 WEG.
This book is especially cool, I think, being that it’s chock full of gorgeous illustrations and handwritten notes. It’s spiral bound, nothing fancy, but it’s just so freakin pretty. It kind of makes you feel like you stole a course decorators notebook.
Plus it’s full of really interesting information, like when and how to use groundlines, what materials to use, considerations regarding color, jump shape, etc. There were definitely a few tidbits in here that I’d never thought of, and I think I’ll be looking at fences a little bit differently on course walks. I have to admit that decorations aren’t something I’ve given a ton of thought to before, beyond noticing if something looked odd.
If you’re an eventer or a book collector, this would definitely be a cool addition to your collection. You just don’t see a lot of books like this one, but subject matter-wise and presentation-wise. I absolutely love it. Oh, and duh… you can get the book on her website here.
I’ve also had my eye on Trafalgar Square’s New Releases page. They’re the best equestrian book publisher in the game and I feel like they’ve always got some interesting ones in the works. There are two that have caught my eye in particular.
Eventers have probably already heard some hype surrounding Jimmy Wofford’s new book, Still Horse Crazy After All These Years. This one is more of an autobiography, which I always love. He talked about it last week on the Major League Eventing podcast and it sounds like it has some good stories from the old days of eventing. Definitely up my alley, I find Jimmy to be super entertaining.
The other one that made my list is Ride Big, which is about building your confidence as a rider. Y’all know I love a good book about upping your mental game, and this one speaks to me for sure.
From the website description:
Haime invites readers to dive into three clear and informative areas of exploration:
Throughout, those who have reached the highest levels on horseback in a number of disciplines share their stories, including Michael Jung, Beezie Madden, McLain Ward, Laura Tomlinson, Harry Meade, Oliver Townend, Mattias Tromp, Casey Deary, Beth Underhill, Fred Mannix, Jared Zenni, Jonathon Millar, and Kelly Soleau-Millar. These Olympians, champions, and medalists explain what they do in the saddle and how their techniques for performing under world-class pressure might help other riders develop a similar kind of confidence.
Gotta be honest, I’m kind of dying to know what Michi had to say on the subject.
What’s on your summer reading list? Any horse books caught your eye lately?
Is it possible for someone’s entire aesthetic to be navy glitter? I might need an intervention, y’all. Or a glittervention, if you will.
I have acquired yet another navy glitter piece to add to my collection, this time in the form of a show shirt.
It’s hard to see the glitter in a picture so here’s a gif for good measure. It’s beautiful.
It’s also soft and lightweight and just a really nice show shirt in general, so no regrets. And in my defense, I didn’t set out looking for this shirt. I was simply (innocently? naively?) cruising through some of my favorite European sites looking at shirts. Window shopping really, just seeing what’s new and beautiful out there because I do love me an interesting show shirt. Equizone (always dangerous for me) is where I found her, in all of her glittery glory. Technically it was on sale, and pretty cheap for a show shirt.
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed by now, it’s that I will buy pretty much anything in navy glitter. I have built a fairly extensive collection, and I didn’t really accumulate it knowingly or on purpose, I’ve just gradually found things I liked and gotten them. Just so happens that what I like is definitely navy glitter. The shirt matches my sparkly navy socks pretty darn well.
Now the navy glitter collection also includes (but is not limited to, because I might be forgetting something)
I think all I’m really missing at this point is a glitter pad, and if they made them with sheepskin I would definitely own one already.
I don’t have any riding boots with navy glitter though. We should work on that. I’m also not sure if the sorta sparkly coat I ordered counts as navy glitter or not. Teeeeechnically they’re little tiny rhinestones. Navy sparkles, for sure, albeit not glitter. That coat hasn’t come in yet though so as of yet it’s not an official part of the collection.
I did get my new (glitterless) Motionlites, though! I sold my other three and promptly ordered two new ones in the smaller size. Many props to Royal Equestrian, a UK store I hadn’t ordered from before – I ordered last Wednesday and they arrived yesterday.
Hillary and I combined our order so we could split the shipping cost from Europe. I just got a navy motionlite and a green motionlite… I decided not to replace the brown one since I had already ordered the sparkly coat. That’s, um, probably enough coats. This size definitely fits a lot better though, for sure, and I pretty much broke even money-wise in the end, so all’s well that ends well?
Which, while we’re on the subject, both of my overseas purchases made it here faster than my Smartpak order. Yes, I caved during their last sale. Once every year or two I kind of forget how annoying my experiences with Smartpak have always been, and something on sale will get me. Sometimes it works out. Usually it doesn’t. This time it didn’t. I snagged a navy and white striped sunshirt, a new set of quilts (fronts and hinds), and some standing bandages. The standing bandages are Toklat, so they’re good. The quilts are Smartpak brand and they seem… cheap. But more significantly, they’re stained. Both pairs. All four of them. They came out of the package looking like this.
Naturally Smartpak’s live chat has been disabled, and I do not really want to deal with this by phone (considering pictures are important), so I sent them an email with photos attached. Their auto response said it could be up to 10 working days before they got to my email. Good lord, Smartpak. And so far, yep, a week later I haven’t gotten a response yet. Literally every single time I order from them they remind me of why I stopped ordering from them in the first place.
The sunshirt (Smartpak brand) is ok. I do like the stripes and the fabric is decent, but the fit is a little boxy and long. Not my favorite but I’ll wear it. So I guess of the 4 things I ordered one was good, two were failures, and one was a meh. And it took 10-13 days for things to arrive (because it didn’t all come together). When I placed my order the shirt was showing as in stock, but when I went back a couple days later my order history showed it was out of stock (even though it still showed as in stock on the item’s page). Just kind of a general hot mess type of experience. These stained wraps though… they’re something else. In a year or two when Smartpak pulls me in again with a sale, someone please remind me of this. Clearly I’m incapable of learning.
Oooo ya know what though, someone (that’s not Smartpak) needs to make navy glitter standing bandages! That’s what my collection is missing…
As you may have noticed, I finally got around to “rebranding” the site with it’s new name! Well, at least in that I got the new domain name, set up forwarding for the old one, put up a new banner at the top, and changed my socials. Considering how long I procrastinated about any of that (6 months, but who’s counting) it didn’t really take that long. I mean, I do have full intentions of actually updating the rest of the site too, which is woefully out of date, and maybe changing the layout a bit, but… those things are actual work and I ran out of give-a-shits by the time I got the banner figured out. But hey, new name anyway. The old domain will continue to forward for a while but update your bookmarks!
Why did I run out of give-a-shits? Well ya know… Millstreet was live streaming this past weekend. Priorities. Must always stop whatever I’m doing if there’s a chance to watch one of my favorite event horses.
Plus I found a new horse to add to my favorites list in Tim Price’s Spartaco (an Italian-bred, don’t see that very often) who went around the entire XC course with his tail straight up in the air and his ears pricked to the max. He was having the absolute time of his life and it was adorable. A bit green but his excitement was so pure.
It was a little bittersweet to watch Millstreet since that was supposed to be our next big destination event, now delayed thanks to covid. But hey, at least Millstreet is up and running again… hopefully next year spectators will be back. Ireland is calling to me in a major way and I must go.
Other than the blog rebranding, the biggest news around here is that it’s FINALLY stopped raining every day. I long ago lost my good humor about the radar always looking like this.
At this point we’ve been a whole 3 days without rain, which is the longest we’ve gone in… weeks. Texas is feast or famine, I swear. We did need the rain after an unusually dry winter, but once it started it just would not stop. We got like 6 months worth of rain in a matter of weeks. The rain gauges from last week alone were throwing out some pretty insane numbers.
The one benefit of this is that it’s kept our temperatures down in the upper 80’s/low 90’s, which is pretty mild for us for this time of year. Usually by June we’re hitting triple digits already. I mean granted the humidity is higher than usual too, but still… you don’t immediately liquify when you walk outside, nor does the sun feel like it’s scorching your actual soul. It’s not that terrible in the shade even in the middle of the afternoon. I’ll take this weather, thanks.
Naturally though this means everything here is very very very soggy. Normally we dry pretty quick but even our fields are still quite squishy. The forecast for the week looks fairly promising though, so I think the show this weekend might actually end up happening after all. Granted, I’ve hardly ridden in the past couple weeks thanks to the weather, and there’s a 0% chance that I’ll be able to jump a course at all this week, but… preparation is overrated, right? I’ve been able to flat Henry the past couple days (at least a little bit, in the center part of the field where it’s driest) and he feels good, so… meh. It’s fine. We’re just showing for fun anyway. I did decide to do my dressage test in my jump tack, we both seem more comfortable in it. Now I just need to like… look at the dressage test at some point probably.
Oh – one other thing did happen this weekend! I helped Willow Tree Warmbloods get set up with a TikTok account. If you want bonus baby horse content and videos, give them a follow. Obi is already a star, naturally.
